might rival in height
the beautiful and simple shaft which we have erected to the fame of the
father of the country. I can fancy each generation bringing its
inscription, which should recite its own contribution to the great
structure of which the column should be but the symbol.

The generation of the Puritan and the Pilgrim and the Huguenot claims
the place of honor at the base. "I brought the torch of freedom across
the sea. I cleared the forest. I subdued the savage and the wild beast.
I laid in Christian liberty and law the foundations of empire. I left
the seashore to penetrate the wilderness. I planted schools and colleges
and courts and churches. I stood by the side of England on many a
hard-fought field. I helped humble the power of France. I saw the lilies
go down before the lion at Louisburg and Quebec. I carried the cross of
St. George in triumph in Martinique and Havana."

Then comes the generation of the revolutionary time. "I encountered the
power of England. I declared and won the independence of my country. I
placed that declaration on the eternal principles of justice and
righteousness, which all mankind have read, and on which all mankind
will one day stand. I affirmed the dignity of human nature and the right
of the people to govern themselves. I created the Supreme Court and the
Senate. For the first time in history I made the right of the people to
govern themselves safe, and established institutions for that end which
will endure forever."

The next generation says, "I encountered England again. I vindicated the
right of an American ship to sail the seas the wide world over without
molestation. I made the American sailor as safe at the ends of the
earth as my fathers had made the American farmer safe in his home. I
proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine in the face of the Holy Alliance, under
which sixteen republics have joined the family of nations. I filled the
western hemisphere with republics from the lakes to Cape Horn, each
controlling its own destiny in safety and in honor."

Then comes the next generation: "I did the mighty deeds which in your
younger years you saw and which your fathers told. I saved the Union. I
put down the rebellion. I freed the slave. I made of every slave a free
man and of every free man a citizen and of every citizen a voter. I paid
the debt. I brought in conciliation and peace instead of war. I devised
the homestead system. I covered the prairie and the plain with happy